


Thunder

by Kkane88



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Blood, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I just say the word a lot, Injury, M/M, very slight blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:41:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24447484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kkane88/pseuds/Kkane88
Summary: Auston steps in to defend Mitch when he's being threatened.
Relationships: Mitch Marner/Auston Matthews
Comments: 5
Kudos: 99





	Thunder

**Author's Note:**

> VERY special thanks to Tilly and Allie who endured all my questions about bloody noses and injuries.

The last thing Mitch expects when he goes to get the next round of drinks from the bar is to wind up with a broken nose or missing teeth, but it looks like that's where this is headed. He hadn't meant to spill the drink on the guy; the bottle had slipped out of his hand when he walked past and drenched the guy's shoes. Mitch isn't very big- tall, but lean- and this guy is built like a fucking linebacker. Mitch just hopes the guy doesn't mess him up so much that he can't play.

"What the fuck?" the guy shouts, squaring his shoulders like he's trying to make himself look bigger. Quite unnecessarily, in Mitch's opinion.

"Sorry, bro," Mitch says, trying to hold his hands up placatingly before he realizes he still has a couple bottles in his hands. "I dropped it. It was an accident."

"You motherfucker!" The guy's obviously pretty drunk and agitated, looking for a fight, and when he raises a hand Mitch just closes his eyes and braces for impact.

"What's the problem?" A familiar voice asks just as Mitch feels a gentle hand on his chest pushing him a step back. He opens his eyes and finds Auston standing in front of him, bodily shielding him from the guy.

"Your little boyfriend here dumped his beer on me," the guy spits, seeming a little more hesitant to swing when he sees Auston's bulk. Mitch has no shame in cowering behind him. Auston can take a hit better than Mitch can. Probably. He hopes he doesn't have to find out. He sees Auston look down at the guy's shoes before tilting his head with a smirk.

"Seems like an improvement to me," he quips, and Mitch's hopes vanish. Auston's geared up to fight, squaring up with a casual confidence that has Mitch a little hot under the collar. He'd be lying if Auston rushing to his recuse didn't give him some _feelings_ \- and how fast Auston crossed the room makes it obvious that he had been watching Mitch. But still, he doesn't want Auston getting hurt- especially not over something this stupid. He takes the remaining bottles in his hands and sets them on a table behind him before wrapping a hand around Auston's bicep, seeing a girl doing the same thing to the other guy, trying to hold him back. He's not really listening to what they're saying anymore, but Auston's tensing up like he's ready to swing.

"Auston, let's just go," he begs, tugging on Auston's arm. He doesn't budge. Mitch turns, trying to catch the eye of any of their teammates back at the table, and before he realizes what's happening, Auston's jerking back, blood already dripping from his nose. The guy took a _swing_ at him. Immediately they're surrounded by people pulling them apart, shouting at both of them, but Auston's tilting his head back, trying to keep the blood from dripping on his shirt. Mitch starts shoving him toward the bathroom, ignoring Auston's protests.

"I'm fine," he tries to say, even as blood drips from his nose.

"We need paper towels, idiot," Mitch snaps back. "I can't believe that just happened. What the hell did you do that for?"

"He was gonna hit you," Auston grumbles, allowing Mitch to push him into the bathroom and over to the sink. He bends his head over the porcelain, letting it drip into the sink while Mitch starts grabbing paper towels.

"Yeah, and then he _did_ hit _you_ ," he goes to the other sink and soaks the paper towels before turning to wipe off the blood smeared on Auston's face. He's surprised that Auston doesn't protest, just stays leaning over the sink while Mitch cleans him up. When he's done, he gives Auston some dry paper towels to start putting pressure on his nose.

"Is it broken?" he asks, hovering anxiously. "Keep your head tilted forward."

"It's not broken," Auston reassures him, just as the door bursts open.

"Sorry guys, I gotta ask you to leave," the guy in the doorway says. Mitch vaguely recognizes him as the bartender. "Zero tolerance policy for fighting."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea anyway," Mitch agrees, eyeing Auston speculatively before grabbing a big stack of paper towels. "Right, let's go."

They say goodbye to the team, and take an Uber back to Auston's place. It's obvious that the driver isn't thrilled to let Auston in the car, but he doesn't stop them. They only have to change out his tissues once on the drive and Mitch makes sure to wrap the bloody ones in clean paper towels so the blood doesn't get anywhere else. He's relieved when they finally get there, and Mitch doesn't hesitate before following him inside.

"Bathroom," he demands, as soon as they're in the door.

"It's fine, Marns," Auston sighs nasally. "I think it's stopped."

"Bathroom!" Mitch says again, shoving at Auston until he moves with a sigh. Auston leans over the sink and takes the paper towel away. They both wait a few seconds in silence but nothing more comes out. Mitch sighs in relief.

"That was really stupid," he says quietly while Auston wipes his face off again. "You could've gotten really hurt."  
"Well I wasn't about to let him hit you," Auston shoots back, turning to face Mitch. Mitch closes the distance between them, planting his hands on Auston's shoulders and leaning in close to get a good look at his nose.

"You're sure it's not broken?" he asks, wanting to touch it but forcing his hands to stay where they are.

"Pretty sure it would hurt worse if it was." Auston's voice is soft, but there's an undercurrent in it that has Mitch's eyes shifting to meet his. There's… something there. Something that makes Mitch's heart race.

"Thanks for trying to protect me," Mitch says, and before he can talk himself out of it, he leans up and to press a kiss to Auston's cheek. Auston tilts his head to follow Mitch's movement and the kiss lands more on the corner of his mouth. Mitch lets it linger, just for a second, and when he pulls back he doesn't go far. He bites his lip and waits for the aftermath.

The last thing he expects is for Auston's hands to land on his hips, or for Auston to pull him closer until they're pressed together. His own hands move automatically, arms wrapping around the back of Auston's neck as he blinks up, startled.

"We can do better than that, I think," Austin murmurs before leaning down. Mitch can't help gasping when Auston's lips land on his and he feels Auston's smirk. And then Auston's _really_ kissing him, licking into Mitch's mouth , reaching a hand up to Mitch's hair, maneuvering him so he's exactly where Auston wants him. Mitch feels himself melting into all the little touches, letting whatever this is happen without worrying about the consequences.

Of course that's when Auston pulls away with a gasp. Mitch has a split second to worry before Auston says, "I can't breathe through my nose." And then Mitch is laughing, a tad hysterically, burying his face against Auston's shoulder. It only takes a few seconds for Auston to start laughing too, hand leaving Mitch's hair and sliding down to rest on the small of his back. Keeping him close. "If I had known getting punched was all it took to get you to kiss me, I would've done it years ago," Auston says when their laughter dies down.

"You could've gotten kissed without getting punched," Mitch argues. "In fact, you could get kissed _more_ right now if you hadn't gotten punched."

"Worth it," Auston shrugs. "You liked it." Mitch did, but he's not going to admit Auston's point.

"Let's go watch a movie or something," he suggests. "You can sit next to me not kissing me and think about what you've done." Auston rolls his eyes, but he goes. Mitch follows, feeling as light as air.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr:  
> [kkane88](https://kkane88.tumblr.com/)  
> [kwriteshockey](https://kwriteshockey.tumblr.com//)


End file.
